NEWARK – Taylor Hall was once in Nico Hischier’s skates. A No. 1 pick tasked with changing an entire franchise.

These are lofty expectations to place on a teenager. And because they’re teenagers, the magnitude of the expectations isn’t always felt right away. It’s not felt at the draft, it’s not felt at training camp and it’s not felt on opening night. At least not for everyone.

Where it’s truly felt is in the final moments of close games. In those moments, it can seem like the weight of the world is on those rookies.

“You’re an 18-year-old and there’s a lot of pressure when you’re the No. 1 pick,” Hall said. “You can get a little bit sidetracked and overwhelmed by a couple of the last shifts in regulation when it’s tied or you’re behind or in overtime.”

So, when Hall skated with Hischier in the last few shifts of those close games, he kept a close eye on the rookie. And what struck him was that Hischier always stayed poised under pressure. Hischier, the 19-year-old phenom, was playing like a veteran during the most chaotic times in the game.

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“He didn’t really get overwhelmed by the late moments of the game or overtime,” Hall said. “Earlier in your career, you can be a little taken aback by that, especially in your first few games. I remember thinking he was pretty well-equipped to handle those moments.”

In his first professional season and his second season in North America, Hischier has proved himself to be mature beyond his 19 years. He was a catalyst in helping bring the Devils back to the postseason for the first time since 2012.

The Devils are now hoping that competitiveness, poise, and of course, skill will help lead them past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With Hischier, the only player on the Devils’ roster to play in all 82 games, they see the future.

New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) practices with the team in Newark, NJ on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.(Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran/Northjersey.com)

He sees it too.

“I learned a lot of things,” Hischier said. “Now I’ve seen every city, every rink. For me, it was a lot of experiences this year and guys helped me a lot. Just all-around, I think I grew as a person and as a hockey player as well.”

Hischier has brought more than speed and scoring to the Devils, he’s brought a lightness to a locker room that needed it after a year of cellar-dwelling. He’s proved to be the franchise-changing player he was projected to be when the Devils drafted him last summer and now he’s projected to be a player who may soon win Selke trophies and someday become a captain.

But like any rookie, he’s had his growing pains. He made mistakes and they ate at him. At the start of the season, he made plenty of them in the faceoff dot. It was then Hynes and his staff had to remember that at the end of the day, he’s still just a kid who likes to play video games on the road and joke around with his friends.

“I think socially, he’s mature beyond his years. But in the locker room and being around him and emotionally being around him, he’s still an 18- or 19-year-old kid,” Hynes said. “He has fun, he jokes around. And even for us dealing with him as coaches, he’s such a good player but he’s a young kid and he still needs to be dealt with like that. He’s not a man yet in that way, just because of his age.

New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) during practice at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.(Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran/Northjersey.com)

“But when you look at how he plays hockey and what he’s like as a human being, he’s a little more mature than you’d expect a young kid to be, for sure.”

This is exactly why the Devils are expecting big things from him this week in the postseason. It doesn’t matter that it’s his first, it’s the first for Hall too. What matters is how he handles those chaotic, in-game moments and the dramatic momentum swings that punctuate each playoff series.

Hischier has changed the game, and now it’s time for him to bring his game to playoffs.

“I'm hungry for more," Hischier said. "I believed in this team right away. I knew if we played our game, we could battle for a playoff spot and now we're in one."